


secret dreams we whisper in the dark

by Areiton



Series: Tony Stark Bingo [3]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Don't Ask Don't Tell, Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Secret Relationship, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 23:28:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18108689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Areiton/pseuds/Areiton
Summary: They never wore them.They sat in his bedside table, with the lube and handcuffs, a dream they never spoke of.Tony Stark Bingo fill: S2 Secret Relationship





	secret dreams we whisper in the dark

Tony is with Natasha and Bruce when it happens, when FRIDAY cuts through Bruce's stumbling babble with, “Boss, it passed.”

For an AI, she sounds remarkably breathless. But that’s overshadowed by Tony’s glass shattering as he stands. He takes two steps, pauses, and stares at the glass, then--”I have to go,” he says, and does. 

That simple, that mystifying, that unexplained. 

“That’s Tony,” Natasha says, and nudges Clint. “Do you think the bots clean up?” 

~*~ 

He’s in a suit and headed to DC within minutes of FRIDAY’s announcement. The thing is--he knew this was coming. There’d been the passing of time and the political climate that said DADT was outdated and overdue to be repealed. 

There was the money Tony had pushed behind lobbyist and senators to make sure it happened. 

There was the entire community who demanded equality. 

And later--later he’d take a minute and revel in this win for the entire fucking world. It feels, even as he flies, bigger even than when they saved New York.

Right now, though--right now, his heart is pounding, and thirty  _ years _ of secrets are pouring over him. 

He pushes the suit faster and hopes. 

~*~ 

Rhodey is home, when Tony lands on the balcony. He’s in his uniform still, and he’s on the phone, but he looks--Tony wonders if he’ll ever get over the way looking at Rhodey makes him feel. The hot burn of want and soft affection, the way his chest goes tight, but warm, not the tight that hurts, the kind of tight that makes his breath catch and his lips twist in a smile and all the anxious manic energy roll right off him. 

Thirty years, and he still loves this man, this beautiful, patient, impossibly wonderful man, who is hanging up and grinning at him. 

“Marry me,” Rhodey says, and Tony freezes. 

Rhodey is still standing there, leaning against the counter drinking cheap beer that Tony has never been able to train out of him, and he nods at the little box Tony is intimately familiar with, the one with two rings inside. 

They’re iron and vibranium, and Tony remembers the night they got drunk in the lab and Tony made them, remembers burning himself as he etched  _ yours _ in the ring that Rhodey couldn’t wear. 

Rhodey had laughed and kissed his burnt fingers, and carefully inscribed Tony’s.  _ be safe.  _

~*~ 

The first time Rhodey left on a mission, Tony saw him off from the door of their apartment, twisting his hands in his MIT shirt, his eyes big and worried. “Be safe,” he whispered and Rhodey smiled. 

“Gimme a reason to be,” he teased, and Tony smiled, coy and sweet, dancing the steps that were familiar. 

Both of them knew the tune to this dance, even if they hadn’t quite reached the end of it, yet. 

“Come home, and I will,” he murmured. 

Rhodey did and Tony--

Tony did. They kissed for the first time, Rhodey still dusty and sweaty and in his damnable uniform and Tony whispering, “You’re home, you’re home, you’re safe,” into his skin like a chant. 

Later, Rhodey had turned to him, skin still glistening with sweat and said, “I can't be public about this, Tones. Not with who you are. But this is  _ real,  _ ok? And I don't--I can't share you.” 

There was determination and fear there, in his dark patient gaze and Tony felt all his hopes and half dreamt fantasies twist and settle. 

“Honey,” he breathes, “don't you know? I'm  _ yours.  _ I always have been.”

~*~

They never wore the rings. 

They sat in Rhodey’s bedside table, with the lube and handcuffs, a dream they never spoke of. And now--

“What did you say?” Tony whispers, because it doesn’t feel real. 

It’s right there, waiting for him to reach out and take, what they’ve both wanted, for so fucking long. 

“Marry me,” Rhodey says again, casual and grinning, but his hands are tight on the counter he’s leaning against, and his eyes are wary, like he thinks--

“Yeah,” Tony says, breathes and leans into Rhodey’s space, steals his shitty beer and grins. 

DADT is over and this--they can have this. After thirty goddamn years of secrets and stolen nights and hiding everything they feel--they can have this. 

“Yeah, ok, honeybear. Let’s get married.” 

~*~ 

The news breaking that Tony Stark has married long time friend and respected Air Force Colonel James Rhodes is a much bigger event than the actual wedding, which is held in the Tower, with only Pepper and a justice of the peace to witness. They wake three weeks later to the news splashed across the papers, and Rhodes phone going off and somewhere in the Tower, Tony can hear Steve shouting. 

“Ready, honeybear?” he asks, nervously. “It’s different, you know--being with me when people know.” 

“Tony, you’re mine,” Rhodey murmurs, drawing him close and kissing him. “And I’ve been yours for most of my life. It’s about damn time people know that.” 

His smile is bright and happy and there are no secrets or shadows. 

Tony kisses him and it tastes like the best kind of victory. 


End file.
